Lately, I have been so wrapped up in daily life that it has been a bit difficult to find time to blog about anything. There are a few upcoming things I hope to be able to share with you soon that have been taking a bit of my time. Not to mention many an afternoon spent ouside enjoying the weather. Not so much today with the thunderstorm, but most days. Actually, we did do a bunch of grilling today for the rest of the week. David is on a mini-vacation this week, and I didn't feel like cooking the whole time. Instead, we bought a TON of veggies yesterday (zucchini, carrots, leeks, red peppers, eggplant, mushrooms) along with a bunch of chicken breasts and grilled them all in one session today. We are seriously set for the rest of the week. Tonight was a Persian inspired dinner of chicken with saffron rice and grilled zuchinni.
I have been trying to do this more lately: making some things in bulk to make life easier. The above photo is from yesterday's lunch of homemade sushi. It really couldn't be easier. But here are some tricky shortcuts. Now, I wouldn't serve these to any suchi master chef or anything, but they are tasty and they hit that craving. AND they are fast. So, do you want a few recipes?
SUSHI- Here's the trick. Instead of making sushi rice, which is short-grained and has rice vinegar mixed into it, I just make a huge batch of basmati rice. This is a staple around here since my kids aren't big potato fans. I know you are thinking "basmati? really?" Well, what I do it put some of the basmati onto the nori and then sprinkle with the rice vinegar. It tastes great, and I am left with a bunch of basmati for the rest of our meals. Also, I just use that fake crab for the california rolls. It is made of fish, but much cheaper than the real thing. AND the kids love this.
Also, some chicken marinades? Here are two that are really similar but the final flavor is so different. We made both today to store for the weeks meals.
Persian Inspired Chicken- juice of 1 lemon, olive oil (a few good glugs), salt, 1 whole grated onion (grating is key), 1/4 t saffron thread added to 1/4 c hot water. Pour all of this over chicken that has been cut into large cubes and let sit 6 hrs or overnight. {we added saffron, crushed cardamom pods, and a pinch of cinnamon to the leftover basmati rice as a side dish to this}
weekly chicken- juice of 1 lemon, olive oil (a few good glugs), salt, 1 whole grated onion, 2 t yellow mustard powder, 2-3 bay leaves. Pour all over chicken and let set 6 hrs to overnight. NOTE: you can also add some italian sausage links if so inclined...it's delicious.
