Archive / Recipes

Lockdown saved by Kale Macaroni and Cheese

Boston is on lockdown today. I decided to go through my pantry to see what I could make.

KALE MAC & CHEESE
Box of Annie’s white cheddar mac & cheese
1 cup of kale
¾ cups Japanese panko
2 tps garlic powder
1 tps black pepper
½ tps Hungarian paprika
1 tps provence blend herbs
¼ raw unsalted pepitas

Cook mac & cheese as instructed on the box then fold in the ingredients. In a bowl, mix all the spices together with the panko crumbs. In a medium size casserole dish, pour the mac & cheese in and sprinkle the panko crumbs on top. Scatter raw peptias on top and spay with a bit of grapeseed oil or olive oil. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes.

Moving day 1 of 2

Time to move again. A friend let mine loaned me their car to move some things. As I was running errands, I stopped by Russo’s and picked up some tindoras. Initially, I was going to cook them in a curry sauce, but I ended up sautéing the them with spicy Thai chilies and garlic instead.

Tindoras with toasted peptias over mixed rice, Pete and Gary’s egg. I thought the veggies would taste like cucumbers, they don’t. There’s a nice crunch and a bit of sweetness comes through.

A Matter of Taste

I watched a documentary about chef Paul Liebrandt in A Matter of Taste which covers a ten-year period. It goes to show that anyone no matter what career you’re in has to be deeply in love with what you do. It gives purpose and motivates us to push ourselves beyond the limits we’ve set for ourselves.

Dumpling Fillings and Fears

Last night I was in my mom’s kitchen to test three different kinds of vegetarian dumpling fillings: kale, taro root with toasted sesame seeds, and curry cauliflower with toasted pepitas, a new recipe idea I developed.

When all the dishes were washed, my mom and I sat down and chatted. Over the years she’s been slowly revealing more of her past, most of which I’ve never heard before.  After she was abandoned in China, she would spend nights walking the streets because she had nowhere to sleep. Fearing something bad would happen, she kept moving because she felt that if she was at least on the move, it would be harder for others to harm her. She encountered challenging situations through the years to say the least.

During my commute to meet a buyer at a store this morning, I reflected on what my mom had told me the night before and was over come with emotion. So many things had to happen in order for me to be here today.

Staying with friends and having my stuff around town makes me feel extremely unsettled. I view this as another day of opportunity to turn things around, not only for myself, but also for the girls that need me. I’ve never wanted to succeed at something so much before. I want to bring hope to girls and know it’s one of my life’s mission. I would love for my mom to still be around to see the impact she’s made not just for me, but in how it’ll be paying it forward.

We have to overcome our own self doubts, fears, and take a risk.