Food Diaries II

Food Diaries No.2

I’ve been trying to go around the world culinary-wise, and this is an example of the morsels I’ve been eating.

As I review how I’m going to live out the rest of my life, I find myself deciding I want to eat out less and less. I’m just not interested in fast food, and I think restaurant food is just as good as the food I cook myself. I’m super freaky about what’s going into my food, so staring at restaurant food while working at my family’s restaurant made me realize how unhealthy all of this was.

Being able to cook my own food has been freeing. If you have the proper stock of spices, it’s all just a game of collecting the right vegetables and meats, and with frozen foods, this stuff can last for a really long time in the freezer before you prepare the dishes. It’s a more affordable option, but it’s also really healthy for you in the long run, because these restaurants aren’t good for you at all. When you can control the salt levels or fat levels, then you can be more in charge of your wellness.

So this is what I’ve been eating! I love healthy food that makes me feel healthy and fulfilled, and these have been hitting all the right spots.

Chicken Plov + Mango Guacamole

I’ve been getting really deep into my Central Asian research, and Uzbek food really caught my eye. I made plov to try and understand the Russian influence on the region, so I mixed Ukrainian, Russian, and Uzbek recipes to create this bad boy. I added in a bit of my own spice blend (aka: cayenne) to make it spicier, then topped it with my usual jalapeno-mango guacamole. It was a nice, healthy meal that my father loved.

Bolinho de Chuva Com Chocolate

These Brazilian donuts were my one unhealthy eat for the month of April. I had to freeze balls of chocolate in order to wrap the dough around it and make a donut with a warm, gooey center. I almost set the house on fire while frying these, but they were worth it. I made a side of frozen chocolate covered bananas to sample with them, dusted the donuts in a cinnamon-sugar mixture, and it was all set to go.

Minestrone with Homemade Italian Bread

We had a bunch of rotelle and macaroni shells in the pantry, along with a bunch of vegetables and chicken stock. This was my solution to that—a homemade minestrone soup! I had a bunch of packs of yeast sitting around too so I made a simple Italian bread to eat on the side and dip into the soup.

Gheimeh, Celery Stew, Saffron Chicken

My father invited his aunt, who had been visiting from California, over for a big meal that he was going to make. He invited my sister and her family over, then our relatives, who had been driving back up from Florida, made a pit stop at our house for the final leg of their journey. Here, in this picture, is my father’s gheimeh, saffron chicken, and celery stew. My dad also made fesenjan, but that’s not in the picture here.

Homemade Udon Soup

I made the broth myself for this udon soup, after buying a bunch of ingredients at Lotte. The broth was made of chicken stock, ginger, garlic, and pepper, while I added in onions, soy puffs, udon noodles, fresh basil and parsley from my garden, Shanghai bok choy, and enoki mushrooms. It was really simple, but packed with flavor that was perfect for a cold, rainy spring day.

Update: I discovered putting gochujang in the broth upgrades the flavor an insane level. I am weeping.

Tomato Udon Stir Fry

I blended up some Roma Tomatoes, added fresh basil from my garden, and and quite a few pinches of sugar and olive oil to make this really delicious sauce. I didn’t want pasta noodles, so I tossed onions, caramelized them for a bit, and then added udon and the sauce. To thicken it, I added a couple spoonfuls of flour so it wouldn’t be too much liquid. This stir fry was absolutely delicious and something I would eat again!

Chana Masala & Naan

The naan unfortunately isn’t homemade—working on a recipe for that! But the chana masala was easy to whip up once I bought garam masala at the Patel Brothers. All I needed was onions, chickpeas, a variety of spices, and canned tomatoes. At the end of the day, let it simmer for twenty minutes, then it was a delicious dinner. Don’t add too much cayenne pepper, or it might be too spicy for the family!