Cinco de mayo

The holidays we or others celebrate often gives us a idea for a change in the household menu.

looks similar to a build it yourself pizza party

Now I’m standing by the television as instructed…

back in the kitchen…..start with some fresh cooked corn tortillas and lettuce

add a bit of sausage

layer on other choices

a few chips on top and a side of sour cream

didn’t add any beverage options at this time, could have run it under the broiler also

 

shrimp stir fry

A few ingredients for a meal, frozen shrimp available and some veggies with noodles from a soup kit, less the seasoning package. You can get an idea of cooking times from the time date stamps on the pictures.

Start with onions and oil

Add grated tumeric

…. grated ginger

mushroom, brocolli, and celery

stir and fry , add a bit of water or stock if necessary, adjust seasonings

add the frozen shrimp, stir and fry till shrimp are cooked

Add the noodle, I had the noodle packet frozen in the fridge, gave it a couple of seconds in the microwave than added to the mix

finished the cooking process with some dark soy sauce

Noodle with shrimp

A simple dish maybe complicated by the fact that I made my own noodle. But a quick and easy meal none the less.

Boil the required amount of noodle, here I used an semolina and egg recipe.

The frozen shrimps were defrosted in water, a bit of chopped lettuce, mushroom and broccoli prepped. the sauce was a throw together compilation of minced garlic, ginger hoi sin , soy , and fish sauce, water, oil, shrimp sauce, sugar and rice vinegar in amounts to balance out the flavor and viscosity to your preference. A spot of habernao paste for heat.

Start by panning the noodle with a bit of oil over high heat, add the veggies, stir fry several minutes. now add the sauce to coat and cook and stir, adding a bit  shrimp water to keep things liquid without burning. Add  the shrimp and continue cooking, adding small amounts of water if necessary, keep things moving. Flame off let sit a couple of minutes and plate.

I leave the shells and tails on the shrimp for texture of the crunch.

Couscous salad with walnuts and mozzarella

Salad, anyway you make it, a fresh mixture of greens and vegetables, this one filling with the addition of couscous, sort of like a pasta salad. I made 1/2 the recipe, the full recipe serves 10, I devoured the half recipe for a full course meal. (the orginal recipe calls for feta cheese but mozzarella is what was available.

Boil some water for the couscous and your done with cooking this meal!

A  Bob’s Red Mill Recipe

tear up some leafy lettuce

add all the salad ingriedents in a large bowl

whip up the dressing

Whip up the dressing

add the cooked couscous and lightly toss the salad with the dressing or drizzle per serving, add the cheese

Now I’ve made this twice, with addition of rye bread croutons. (and I sneaked in a bit of smoked dried hot red pepper into the dressing)

Eggplant, red pepper and mushroom pizza

A few ingredients for a spectacular pizza.
Slice up the eggplant, salt and sandwich between paper bags to draw out excess moisture.

Julienne cut red pepper and garlic to taste.

Prepare the dough as per your favorite recipe, ah, ah, ah no store bought dough !

Dice up the roasted eggplant, that’s after its rinsed and placed on a sheet pan and roasted in the oven.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the dough. a slight sprinkle of grated cheese.

Bake and serve.

For this crust, I placed some seeds in the pan, a cast iron skillet, under the dough when pressing it in the pan. A flavorful addition.