Adzuki Beans and Green Peppers

A couple years ago, I bought a vegan cookbook and found a delightful looking recipe for a soup involving adzuki beans. I gathered the ingredients, cooked the dried beans, and then realized when tasting them, that they were red beans. In Chinese cooking, these are usually referred to as red beans, and almost always only used for desserts. Something about eating them in savory dishes usually makes me feel... odd.

Like something is just off. 

Kind of like the panic I have when I don't remember if I left the curling iron on and I'm fifteen minutes away from my house. 

I don't know if it's mental, or what. It just usually feels weird to eat red beans in a savory dish. 

BUT NOT THIS ONE. 

Yay! 

'Cause I totally had a half a cup of them languishing in a jar in my cabinet, and although red bean jello sounds totally amazing, I would rather use them on something savory because I really don't need to eat more sweets. 

Recipe is taken from Lisa's Kitchen

Differences between her adaptation and mine:

• I used half the amount of adzuki beans.
• I used slightly more tamari than what would have been half because it was slightly dull tasting. 
• Otherwise I did my best to follow her recipe. 

...

why is it that urban outfitters has no shoes ON SALE IN MY SIZE WITH A MILD HEEL that aren't made of velour or tacky looking plastic?

probably cause hipster like terrible things

also.

you know you're too old for forever 21 if you leave because the music was too loud and making your ears hurt

Happy Chinese New Year

i got free food cause im somewhat similar to a chinese

Black Eyed Pea Fritters!!

If you know me, then you know that me and a couple friends host dinner parties every few months.
But you don't know me.

Unless you're Nick.
In which case, HI BABY I LOVE YOU WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE ME AN HONEST MAN <3

Anyway, at the last one we did, someone's husband noted that he makes really good fried chicken. And thus, it was suggested that the topic of the next dinner party be soul food. Since I used to kind of be a vegetarian or something, it is, by default, my job to make the vegetarian options.
Because I'm friends with real vegetarians.
But they don't know how to cook.
Neither do I, but people assume I can because I do it frequently, and give out tips that people haven't asked for in the first place. That don't necessarily work.

Yet another reason why I am an asshole.

Last night, I decided to soak some black eyed peas for dinner without deciding on a recipe beforehand. For once, that definitely worked out in my favor. I started looking up recipes on Epicurious while in a development meeting. For some reason, my manager opted to show us SNL skits and random videos for the first hour of the meeting.
I know what the reason was.
It was so that we could understand the references he makes.
Unfortunately, I have the attention span of a sugar high hamster, so I didn't even pay attention during that. I tried. I really did try.

Regardless, I found a recipe from a book entitled Vegan Soul Kitchen for black eyed pea fritters. Fried things? Yum! Soul Food? Sure! It says it in the title, it must be soul food!! How fortuitous!

Of course, I didn't bookmark the recipe because I told the guy next to me to take notes, and he started texting me the aforementioned notes. And I had to reply.
By writing notes on my arm.
How do I have a job? Affirmative action? Maybe I'm secretly good at what I do?

Probably not.

There are red chili flakes underneath the cayenne. Yummm

Green mess? Hell yes!

Adapted from Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything Vegetarian 

Feeds probably 4 

Ingredients: 

1 cup black eyed peas, cooked 

2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled 

1 onion, chopped
1 tsp red chili flakes
1 tbsp ginger
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cilantro
half a lemon's worth of lemon juice
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c bread crumbs
neutral oil

Place everything together in a food processor except the breadcrumbs and oil. Pulse until mixed, and if things seem too liquidy, add bread crumbs, pulse some more, until it seems less liquid-filled and like it could be used to form balls. Bean balls! I had to use a half cup, but there was probably residual liquid from the beans, which I had just finished cooking.
After forming balls, cook them in oil until browned.
Don't walk away to answer your phone.
And then channel surf.
And then realize you burnt everything.

They were delicious. Maybe not beautiful, but delicious. 

Fail Rutabaga 'Omelette'

I'd like to think that life is an extended lesson. I'd like to think I'm always learning things.

One thing I learned last night is that pretending to be drunk and running away from your dance partner yelling "WHERE IS MY BOO" in hopes that you'll lose aforementioned partner in the crowd is pretty high up on the list of "worst exit strategies possible."

Also known as my list of "Commonly used exit strategies."

I learned today that if rutabagas are not properly cooked, they taste really fibrous.
I learned that I cannot gracefully get a flat omelette out of a pan.
On a related note, I can't make flip normal omelettes either.

That's a rutabaga. I didn't know, either, until I saw one in my CSA box. 

AND THIS IS WHAT MY 'OMELETTE' TURNED INTO. 

I think a better description would have been scrambled eggs with undercooked rutabaga that happens to look a lot like fried potatoes. 

So yay, breakfast for dinner. 

Caraway, Lettuce,White Bean and Parmesan Soup

Um.
Um.

Sometimes I don't think things through.
Sometimes I don't pay attention to the details.
Sometimes I do some other, third option. It probably involves over  enthusiasm or a lack of enthusiasm. Or not remembering what I like. Or being adventurous when I should take the path most followed.

Sometimes I do all of that at once.

Tonight was one of those times.

It started with a simple case of mistaken identity. It said on the list that I was getting cabbage in my CSA box. I was excited. I like cabbage now, apparently. No really, I do.

I found this. I wasn't sure at the time if it was actually cabbage. I inquired of my parents. My mom said it might be. I didn't bother to taste it. It fell to the back of my mind, but as CABBAGE. I thought it was cabbage.  

It's definitely lettuce. Cabbage dream crushing lettuce. This is the lettuce of my discontent. 

But I had a recipe damnit. I was going to use it, come hell or high water.

Did it taste good?

Uhh.. no.
I added sriracha to make it palatable :(

Lemony Collards Greens and Lentil Soup

I don't think that until this last year I had ever eaten collard greens. My family isn't much for hearty greens; I don't think we ever had kale, mustard greens, or the like when I was a child. I definitely fell in love with kale and chard during my last bought of vegetarianism. But collard greens are somehow something I have never tried until recently. I'm not really sure why. Most stores that stock kale or chard seem to have collards. I think part of that is I personally haven't seen a lot of recipes that call for them?

Regardless, a bunch of showed up in my CSA box, all green and vibrant. 

Greens and lentil soup time? 

Hell yeah.

 The greens were really pretty before I chopped them up. Oh wells. 

Ingredients: 

1/2 onion , chopped 

1/2 cup lentils 

1/2 lb collard greens? Not entirely sure because I lack a scale and I just used the bunch I had

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil 

1/2 a lemon 

1 tsp red chili flakes

Cook chopped onion in olive oil until translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add minced garlic, and cook for a few minutes more. Clean and remove the ribs from the collard greens. 

 

It looks less than appetizing, but the flavor was excellent :)