Breakfast Quesedilla (aka B-Dillas)

Ingredients:
Tortillas (Tortillas)
Cheese (Queso)
Tomatoes (Tomates)
Avocado (Aguacate)
Onions (Ceballos)
Salsa (Salsa)
1 Egg per Dilla (Huevos)
Potatoes (Papas)

Hot pan + butter + tortilla + cheese

3 eggs w/o broken yokes, let the bottom bits cook first.

The break the yokes and stir a bit (but not as much as a scramble)

Fold the eggs into an omlette type thing. (Cut into 3 strips again 1 egg per dilla).

Splash the salsa, avo chunks, tomato chunks, salt and pepper

Fry up the potato chunks

Place all into the tortilla and fold in half, continue to cook in pan until it is mostly covered in brown flakey crispy golden goodness.

Enjoy!

Curry Lentil Vegetable Soup

This was a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants recipe and it turned out well! I wasn't sure I would use all the ingredients I bought, but I went slowly and cautiously, tasting along the way, and now this soup and I are friends. The whole experience was made all the more fun by the Prince Pandora station!

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. red lentils
1 1/2 c. water
1 heaping teaspoon Garam Masala
1 handful chopped onion
1 can chicken broth (optional)
1/2 head broccoli
1 can diced tomato (or fresh)
1/2 zucchini diced
salt to taste
1 can coconut milk (optional)

Rinse lentils in colander until they stop gassing then rinse them in your pot until the water is clear. Add the 1 1/2 cups of water to cook the lentils in (I didn't measure it so just use what looks right to you - you can always add more) and the garam masala. Heat on medium fire.

This is what mine looked like after heating for a while... not too much stuff in there!

While the lentils and spice are cooking, chop up the onion. Add the onion when the lentils start to get soft, then chop up the rest of the veggies. After the lentils have been cooking for about 20-30 mins (most of the water will have been sucked up by the lentils), add the chicken broth, or another cup of water/veggie broth if you're not using the chicken broth. Next add the can of diced tomato and salt.

Bring this to a boil, then simmer, stirring to make sure the lentils haven't stuck to the bottom of the pan, then add the rest of the veggies.


Simmer this until the vegetables are cooked to your desired amount, check the salt and then you can be done!

If you're adding the coconut milk you can do it two ways - on top of each individual bowl

Or in the whole pot. It was pretty tasty!

china's comfort food

*EXCERPTED FROM THEJADETEASPOON

tomato•fried•egg

Tomato and egg join the familiar sweet and salty in an unlikely way, making this tasty comfort food a popular among locals and foreigners alike. The simplicity is surprisingly delicious.

In the campus canteen, the combo is often served over a bed of noodles or next to a bowl of rice.

tomato meets egg

THE RECIPE: TOMATO FRIED EGG

(1) tomato • (1) egg • oil • salt • sugar


THE METHOD: TOMATOES FIRST, EGGS LAST

1. 1 egg and 1 large tomato per serving
   
2. core and wedge tomatoes
   
3. add generous amount of oil* to wok
   
4. reduce the ripe tomatoes over medium-high flame
5. -meanwhile- add sugar and salt, for a balanced taste
   
6. beat eggs separately in a bowl
7. add pinch of salt to eggs
8. add water, approximately 1/3 quantity of eggs, beat
9. remove tomatoes from heat when saucy**
10. rinse pan and reuse for eggs
11. preheat liberal amounts of oil
    
12. scramble eggs in oil (have lid handy)
    
13. add tomatoes back into wok and reheat briefly
14. serve over noodles or rice

NOTES:

*Do no use extra virgin olive oil, aka evoo. In fact, I recommend not using any oil with recognizable flavor - a plain vegetable oil is perfect. The tomatoes and egg, coupled with sugar and salt provide plenty of flavor. I found a flavorful oil, such as evoo complicated the overall taste in a way that ruined the simplicity and made it an entirely different dish.

**If you only have sad, pink tomatoes at hand, the addition of plain tomato sauce (or paste) compensate nicely for the missing flavor and flavonoids alike.

*** While it is tempting for most cooks to add garlic at the oil-preheating stage, here too, I found that garlic complicated the flavor in an undesirable. Which is to say... it is simply another dish.

Feel free to adjust the ratio of egg:tomato as your palette calls to you.

The recipe above yield a pure, simple version tomato•fried•egg:

classic comfort food

fried•rice

Fried rice might be just leftover rice, but it is a second chance for steamed rice to remake itself in yet another wholesome way.

spicy Anaheim accents fresh eggs

THE RECIPE: FRIED•RICE

leftover•steamed•rice
scrambled•eggs
diced•Anaheim•pepper
vegetable•oil
thick•sweet•soy•sauce
pinch•o•salt


THE METHOD: MUSTGO*

1. preheat oil in wok over high flame
   
2. toss leftover rice in wok
3. break up an rice clumps
4. add soy sauce and toss evenly
5. add chopped vegetables and retoss
   
6. salt to taste
   
7. serve!
   

Every grain of rice ought to have a chance to bask in the heat of the oil, continuously tossing for an added depth.

Fried rice dictates very few rules, other than everything must be rice-size or comparably diced. As rice is the dominating component, any competition from the décor renders the rice an invader and the dish weak.

simply fried rice

Here in Beijing, it is quite common to find corn, ham, bell or Anaheim peppers, and the occasional carrot, all finely diced. And of course, fried rice is not fried rice without the scrambled egg.

Roasted Beets and Onions with Steamed Broccoli

I have another simple yet delicious couple of dishes that come in handy when you only have a little time and one or two people to feed.

Ingredients

3 medium sized beets
2 medium onions
2 T. (ish) braggs
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c. olive oil

1 head broccoli


Chop the beets into bite sized pieces and dice the onion. Mix them together in a small baking dish (I used a bread pan). Squirt some Braggs in there, salt and pepper, mix thoroughly. Add olive oil and mix again, making sure that everything is evenly coated with the oil

I turned the oven to 375 (I didn't preheat), covered the pan with aluminum foil and baked it for about 45 minutes. I then took it out, mixed the veggies, tasted one and then cooked for another 30 mins uncovered.

perfect

I then cut up the broccoli and steamed it and ate them together. This made 2 meals for me and was pretty darn tasty!

Monkey dal?

Ahoy hoy! Inspired by Sarah and Jeff's naan adventures... this is a dal recipe we've done a few times, along with a recipe from Vegetarian cooking for everyone... that I can't remember right now... even though I just cooked it and ate it tonight. It's an indian-ish dish, with potato, cauliflower, spinach, and watercress. I'll find it some other time. With the dish I can't remember, this dal recipe, some rice, and naan, you've got a feast for 4.

Sautee paper thin slices of one large onion in 2-3 tbsp ghee (mmmmm!) until they're golden. Once the onions have started, bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a heavy saucepan, and add 1 cup mung ki dal (small yellow lentils, or a similar sized lentil--french green work fine, too) plus 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp turmeric, and 1/4 tsp ground red chile. Simmer over low heat, partly covered, for about 30 minutes. When it's done add the onions, simmer until everything's hot, and taste for spices. Yummmmmm!